RT 2014-07-03The Vatican has officially recognized a leading association of
demonologists, despite debates in the Catholic Church over the impact of
exorcism rites. The decision stems from the faith of Pope Francis, who
appears to believe in a literal Satan.

***

The endorsement of the International Association of Exorcists,
which counts around 250 members from 30 countries in its ranks,
was announced in the Vatican’s mouthpiece L’Osservatore Romano.

The organization – considered the most respectable practitioners
of a rite that is widely performed around the world – was formed
by the charismatic priest Gabriele Amorth in 1991. The
88-year-old, whose favorite film is The Exorcist, has claimed to
have expelled more than 150,000 evil spirits, since completing
his training nearly three decades ago.

While some of his exorcisms can be performed by a simple prayer
following an appeal, others involve months-long investigations,
and lengthy rituals involving loud recitations of saints’ names,
holy water and crucifixes.***

- Symptoms suffered by patients vary, but typically include
hallucinations, speaking in tongues, uncontrollable tremors, and
less frequently, vomiting improbable amounts of bodily fluids,
and even inedible objects, such as nails and pieces of electronic
equipment.

The causes? Amorth’s chief bugbear is the occult – which he says
has infiltrated popular culture, aided by the internet – but also
phenomena regarded as relatively innocuous, such as yoga and
Harry Potter, which he has said provide a gateway to full-on
Satan-worship.

The revival of official support for exorcism chimes with the
views of the 77-year-old Argentinian Pontiff. Francis famously
appeared to exorcise demons from Angel, a wheelchair-bound
Mexican man during a visit to St Peter’s square, by laying his
hands and chanting (though the man later admitted that they
returned). At the time, the Holy See issued a soft rebuttal –
that the Pope did not “intend” to perform the rite - which did
little to dispel the idea that Francis is an exorcist himself.

Whatever the specifics of the incident, Francis often talks about
the Devil in public, and “incessantly” in private,
according to an anonymous source in the Vatican, who spoke to the
Washington Post. This is in sharp contrast to the modernist drift
of Catholic clergymen, who now often talk of evil as an abstract
concept, more than demons possessing the soul – something Francis
has admitted himself.

“The Prince of this world, Satan, doesn’t want our holiness,
he doesn’t want us to follow Christ. Maybe some of you might say:
‘But Father, how old-fashioned you are to speak about the devil
in the 21st century!’ But look out because the devil is present!
The devil is here… even in the 21st century! And we mustn’t be
naïve, right? ” the Pope said earlier this year.

While there is no doubt that there are heartfelt reasons behind
the exorcism endorsement, and there will be ritual benefit from a
licensing system that filters out “untrained” exorcists,
it will leave the Catholic Church open to accusations of
backwardness, superstitious thinking, and outright quackery.[...]